Forbidden Love
by Night of the Shade
Summary: Based on the movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars but the sequel will start with the tv series. My OC, Aroara Starrunner, pretty much takes Ahsoka's place but Ahsoka is still in it just as Obi-Wan's padawan and Aroara is more snippier, more reckless and more in love with her Master, Anakin Skywalker than Ahsoka. I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING!
1. Chapter 1

I stood in the back of the aircraft waiting for it to land and open the back hatch. Ahsoka Tano stood to my left, standing perfectly still but pride gleaming in her eyes. We were the two youngest padawans in the Jedi Temple and Master Yoda had personally picked us to go to the republic force and help Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker; the two most greatest Jedi (besides Master Yoda of course) in the galaxy. Obi-Wan had requested a padawan so Master Yoda had decided to send a padawan to Anakin too. I was jumping for joy on the inside but if I was going to be a future Jedi, I had to conceal my emotions. The cruiser gave a soft thud as it landed on the ground and I looked over at Ahsoka.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Ready." She answered, the light glowing brighter in her blue eyes. The back hatch hummed as it slowly dropped to the ground. As the bright of day shone into the dark cruiser, I saw an army of clones standing behind Masters Obi-Wan and Anakin. Containing myself, I forced myself to walk slowly down the ramp beside Ahsoka to the Jedi.

"Younglings." Obi-Wan muttered.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Anakin demanded as we stopped in front of them.

"I'm Ahsoka." Ahsoka introduced herself.

"And I'm Aroara." I greeted them. "Master Yoda sent us. We were told to tell you both that you must get back to the Jedi Temple immediately. There's an emergency."

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but we're in a bit of an emergency right here." Anakin snapped. Man, this guy was jerk. Handsome, but a jerk.

"Our communications have been a bit unreliable, but we've been calling for help." Obi-Wan added.

"Master Yoda hadn't heard from you, so he sent us to deliver the message." Ahsoka said. Anakin sighed in frustration and turned his back to us and took a couple steps away from us.

"They don't even know we're in trouble." Anakin growled.

"Maybe you can relay a signal through the cruiser that dropped us off." Obi-Wan and Anakin exchanged looks and nodded before heading onto the cruiser.

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Ahsoka and I lead the two Jedi on the ship and surrounded the holographic communication round table. After speaking to the admiral on a ship who was in the middle of another battle, he directed our call to Master Yoda at the Jedi Temple. As we waited for our call to go through, the four of us stood there in an awkward silence as Anakin and Obi-Wan exchanged looks from Ahsoka and me to each other. Ahsoka and I exchanged our own worried glances with each other just before Master Yoda's holographic figure popped up on the table.

"Master Kenobi, glad Ahsoka and Aroara found you I am." Master Yoda said as his image flickered every other second.

"Master Yoda, we are trapped here and vastly outnumbered." Obi-Wan explained. "We are in no position to go anywhere or do anything. Our support ships have all been destroyed."

"Send reinforcements to you, we will." The transmission garbled before Master Yoda's image scattered before returning back to admiral's hologram.

"We've lost the transmission, Sir." Admiral said. "We have to leave orbit. More enemy ships have arrived. We'll get back as soon as we can." With those words, the picture disappeared.

"I guess we'll have to hold out a little longer." Anakin groaned as Obi-Wan turned to Ahsoka and I who were waiting patiently for our next orders.

"My apologies, young ones." Obi-Wan said. "It's time for a proper introduction."

"We're the new Padawan learners." Ahsoka said. "I'm Ahsoka Tano."

"And I'm Aroara Starrunner." I introduced myself.

"I am Obi-Wan Kenobi." Obi-Wan said. "I was not expecting two padawans but the more padawans, the more Jedi in the future. I will be your new master."

"I'm at your service, Master Kenobi, but I'm afraid I've actually been assigned to Master Skywalker." A look of horror and shock destroyed the smirk on Anakin's face as he ducked behind Obi-Wan and appeared on his right side.

"What?" Anakin exclaimed as he began to chuckle nervously. "No, no, no, no, no. There must be some mistake. He's the one who wanted the Padawan." I shook my head.

"No, Master Yoda was very specific. I'm assigned to Anakin Skywalker, and he is to supervise my Jedi training."

"But that doesn't make any sense."

"We'll sort this out later." Obi-Wan said before Anakin could complain some more. "It won't be long before those droids figure out a way around our cannons."

"I'll check on Rex in the lookout post." Anakin turned and began to walk away from him but Obi-Wan stopped him.

"You'd better take Aroara with you." Anakin glared at me from over his shoulder before continuing his walk and I hung my head and followed after him, leaving my best friend behind me with Obi-Wan.

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I followed Anakin to the top of an abandoned building to where three or four clones were on lookout on the edge of the roof. A man with short blonde hair walked over to us.

"What's the status, Rex?" Anakin questioned him as I took a couple away from the two men to admire the view of the city from up here.

"Quiet for now, Sir." Rex answered. "They're gearing up for another assault. Who's the youngling?" I turned on my heel causing my white blonde hair to fluttered in the wind as I glared at the captain.

"I'm Master Skywalker's Padawan." I informed him. "The name's Aroara Starrunner." Rex looked over at Anakin confused.

"Sir, I thought you said you'd never have a Padawan."

"There's been a mix-up." Anakin explained, rolling his soft electric blue eyes. "The youngling isn't with me." I grinded my teeth and pursed my lips, making my sharp canine teeth poke out. I may be young but they don't have to stand there in front of me calling me a youngling like I wasn't even there.

"Stop calling me that." I snapped at my master. I then crossed my arms over my chest and smirked at him. "You're stuck with me, Skyguy." Rex covered his mouth with his hand to try to hide his laughter but his shaking shoulders gave it away. Anakin turned sharply towards me with a look of astonishment and anger on his face as his eyes turned to cold ice.

"What did you just call me? Don't get snippy with me, little one. You know, I don't even think you're old enough to be a Padawan."

"And I don't think you're young enough to be a Jedi even more." Another laughter came from Rex as Anakin leaned closer to me, pointing an accusing finger at me. I narrowed my eyes at him as anger boiled inside of me. "I may not be old enough but Master Yoda thinks I am."

"Well, you're not with Master Yoda now, so if you're ready, you'd better start proving it." I squinted my eyes at Anakin, trying to contain my anger. Being a Caninis, part human part dog, we were known for our anger issues. I was going to be the first Caninis to be a Jedi. If I make it through my training without blowing up on my master first. "Captain Rex will show you how a little respect can go a long way."

"Uh. . . right." Rex stuttered as Anakin and I never dropped our glare with each other. "Come on, youngling." I broke the eye contact with Anakin and followed after Rex.

"Padawan." I mumbled under my breath.

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"Have you thought about moving that line back, Captain?" I asked Rex as we walked through the supplies area behind the cannons. I looked to the left to see most of the clones out in the open fighting the druids. "They'd have better cover that way."

"Thanks for the suggestions, but General Skywalker thinks they're fine where they are." Rex informed me.

"Of course he does." I sighed as I looked away from the battlefield. "So. . . if you're a captain and I'm a Jedi, then, technically, I outrank you, right?"

"In my book, experience outranks everything."

"Well, if experience outranks everything, I guess I'd better start getting some." I looked to the left through some wreckage to see a red, shimmering dome shield expanding up through the sky, heading out direction. "What's that?" We stopped walking as Rex turned to look.

"Not good. They've got an energy shield. It's going to make things damn near impossible. If you want experience, little one, it looks like you're about to get plenty. Come on, let's get back to the Generals."

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I stood beside Anakin as we stared down at a holographic map of the city. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were to our right and Rex at the other side of them.

"The shield generator is somewhere in this area." Obi-Wan explained as dome appeared on the map just outside the city. "They're slowly increasing the diameter and keeping it just ahead of their troops."

"Heavy cannons are going to be useless against that." Rex added.

"As they get closer, we could try to draw them into the buildings. That might level out the playing field a bit."

"If that shield's going to be such a problem, why don't we just take it out?" I suggested.

"Easier said than done." Rex snapped.

"Well, I, for one. . ." Anakin cleared his throat before continuing to speak. ". . . agree with her. Someone has to get to that shield generator and destroy it. That's the key."

"Right, then." Obi-Wan agreed. "Maybe you and Aroara can tiptoe through the enemy lines and solve this particular problem together."

"Can do, Master Kenobi." I smiled.

"I'll decide what we do." Anakin scolded me and I turned to him to exchange a cold glare with him before looking back at the map.

"If Rex, Ahsoka and I can engage them here, you two might have a chance to get through undectected." Obi-Wan instructed.

"They won't have much time." Rex complained. "The droids far outnumber us, so our ability to street-fight is limited without the use of heavy cannons. They'll march forward under the protection of their shield until they're on top of our cannons and blow them away."

"We'll figure out a way." I assured him. "Come on, Master, let's go." I turned and walked away from Anakin and he quickly followed after me.

"If we survive this, Snips, you and I are going to have a talk." He growled at me as he cut me off to take the lead.

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"So what's the plan?" I questioned Anakin as I jumped off the side of a pillar and landed with ease behind him as he stared out through some binoculars at the energy shield that kept getting closer and closer.

"Oh. . . I thought you were the one with the plan." Anakin gloated.

"No, I'm the one with the snippy remarks, remember? You're the one with the experience, which I'm looking forward to learning from." Anakin looked over his shoulder at me. "What? If I want to be a Jedi, I got to learn from someone, right?" The corner of his mouth lifted up into a small smile before turning back to the shield.

"Well, first we need to get behind that shield, then get past their tank lines." I looked out over the balcony with Anakin as I watched the well organized druid army march behind the red shield.

"Why don't we just go around, outflank them?"

"That'd take too long."

"Sneak through the middle then."

"Impossible, unless you can turn yourself into a droid." He said his words more slowly towards the end of the sentence as he got lost in his own thoughts. I threw my hands up into the air and sighed as I walked away from Anakin.

"All right, you win. My first lesson will be to wait, while you find an answer."

"Well, the wait's over. I've got a plan." He pushed past me and headed down the wreckage towards the droid army and I reluctantly followed after him.


	2. Chapter 2

I pressed up against Anakin as we hid under a small tin box in the middle of the road that the droids were on. There was a faint humming that passed over us quickly followed by the humming of the droid tanks and the pounding on the ground by the battle droids as they passed right by us, kicking the sides of the box every once in a while.

"This is a stupid plan." I whispered sharply to Anakin. "We should fight these guys instead of just sneaking around."

"Except for the fact that their deflective energy shield just passed over us." Anakin reminded me. "If you can't cross their lines, let their lines cross you."

"If you say so." We began to crawl slowly forward, pushing the box with us to keep us diguised. Several minutes passed as we continued to crawl on our hands and knees. I listened closely outside the box and could hear the droid army getting farther and farther away from us. "I think we may have passed all them, Master. We may pull this off yet."

"Still have a ways to go before we get to the generator station."

"Do we still need this thing? I can't take it anymore. I have to stand up." We stood up and Anakin took the lead in front of me, keeping the box covering our heads.

"You have got to be careful. You never know what you're going to run into." Just as he finished speaking, the box clanked against something, knocking Anakin back, who knocked me back causing both of us to fall to the ground, losing our cover. I looked up to see a large circular droid with a blue deflective energy shield around it. "You see what I mean?" We quickly pull out our lightsabers as the droid began to fire at us. My blue lightsaber was a blur in front of me as I deflected every shot from the druid. I flipped backward into the air and landed on my feet with Anakin on his feet beside me. I knocked every shot back to the druid but it just bounced off the shield.

"We can't beat its shield."

"Run!" I risked a glance at him, looking at him like he was crazy before looking back at the droid.

"What? Jedi don't run!"

"I said run!" I let out a growl of frustration before turning on the balls of my feet and running from the droid with Anakin behind me. "Aroara, stop!" Anger boiled inside as I was getting angry with Anakin.

"Make up your mind!"

"I said stop!" I skidded to a halt and turned back around to see the droid rolling to us, the shield gone. I waved my lightsaber through the metal and it cut through like butter. Anakin did the same, cutting it into thirds. We both deactivated our lightsabers and hooked them back to our belts. "Good. You take direction well." I glared at his back as he walked away from me towards the station.

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We finally reached the end of the road where a blockage of boulders covered the road. Anakin started climbing them one by one but I leapt from one to another with ease reaching the top before him. There was an electrical humming as I looked to the center of the dome to see a large, wide laser beam shooting into the sky, creating the dome around it.

"There it is." I concluded as Anakin took a stance beside me.

"Stay close." Anakin ordered. "We've got to be careful."

"Come on." I raced forward into the open.

"Wait!"

"Why? We're almost there!" Something beeped around me and I immediately stopped and looked down to see flashing red bulbs on skinny metal rods that were sticking out from the ground.

"I said wait!" The ground began to shake beneath me as it began to cave in, allowing giant cylinder droids to appear out of the ground. "Forget about the droids! Set those charges!" I took off into a run again as Anakin pulled out his lightsaber and began to cut through the droid army. I climbed up the mound to the generator and slowly began to pull a bomb out and placed it on the side of the generator. Something whirred behind me and I glanced over my shoulders to see a droid raising its arm above its head ready to smash me. Diving between its legs, it slammed its arm down on the spot I was seconds ago. I pulled out my lightsaber and jumped back over it to the other side, slicing it in half. The cylinder part of the droid rolled down the mound away from its legs and back on the ground, rolling over more trigger rods making more droids come out of the ground. I saw Anakin glare at me as he got more surrounded.

"Sorry."

"Whose side are you on anyway?" I turned back to the generator and placed the remaing charges on it. "I could use a little help!" I set the last charge before turning around to face the field and saw six droids surrounding Anakin. I looked frantically around and saw a large slab of stone with a small hole in the top.

"Skyguy, don't move!" I reached out to the slab and closed my eyes, concentrating on the Force around me. I felt a tug on my hands as I connected with the Force and I slammed my hands in a downward movement, causing the slab to fall over. Anakin looked up in shock to see the slab falling towards him.

"No, no, no, no, no!" He knelt to the ground and covered his head just as he went through the hole as the rest of the slab crushed the remaining droids around him. I jumped down from the mound and ran towards him as he was standing up, groaning in frustration with a glare shooting in my direction. "You could've gotten me killed!" I bared my teeth at him.

"I know what I'm doing!"

"I had everything under control."

"You asked for my help! Besides, I just saved your life! You should be thanking me!" Anakin turned off his lightsaber and hooked it back to his belt as he crossed his arms over his chest, his ice cold eyes piercing me.

"Did you get the charges set?"

"Yes."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Without breaking eye contact with him, I raised my right finger and pressed the detonator on my wrist band. The generator erupted beside us but I continued to hold my stare with Anakin as the dome contracted back into nothing. Four or five republic cruisers flew over head and Anakin looked up at them, watching them as they headed into the city. I sighed and walked away from Anakin to sit down on the ground. I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees as I stared into nothing. Great, my first day as a Padawan and I already managed to tick my master off. If he accepts me as his padawans. It's not like padawans could just go to any master. A padawan and master have a connection with each other that's unbreakable until death with one of them. It's the Force that selects padawan and master, not the other way around. Maybe Anakin was right. Maybe I was too young to be a Jedi. Even thought I had trained so hard in the Jedi Temple, I just wasn't ready. I wondered how Ahsoka was doing on her first day with Master Obi-Wan. Anakin walked over to me and sat down beside me on my left. I looked to the right away from him fore I didn't want to see the look of anger on his face. It was quiet for a moment before Anakin spoke. "You're reckless, little one. You never would've made it as Obi-Wan's Padawan." I closed my eyes and hung my head in disappointment. "But you might make it as mine." I looked up at him to see his eyes melt into two clear pools of blue. My heart swelled with pride as the corner of his mouth lifted into a smile. He stood up as a cruiser landed a couple yards away from us. He stood up and began to walk towards it. "Come on." I jumped up and ran after him, climbing onto the ship beside him. Rex and a couple of other troopers were on board too.

"Great job, General Skywalker." Rex praised Anakin before turning to me as the ship took off towards the city. "You, too, kid." I smiled even bigger and looked at Anakin who smiled back. We approached the center of the city and landed in a clearing where Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were talking to Master Yoda.

"Thanks for the ride, Rex."

"Anytime, Sir." I followed Anakin off the ship and headed towards the Jedi and Padawan.

"Master Obi-Wan. Master Yoda." Anakin and I gave Master Yoda a short bow of respect.

"Hmm." Master Yoda hummed as he studied Anakin, looking up at him. "Trouble you have with your new Padawan, I hear." Anakin and I exchanged glances before looking back at Master Yoda.

"I was explaining the situation to Master Yoda." Obi-Wan explained.

"Really?" Anakin questioned him.

"If not ready for a Padawan you are, perhaps, Obi-Wan, we can. . ." Before Master Yoda could finish speaking, Anakin cut him off.

"No. Wait a minute. I admit, Aroara's a little rough around the edges, but with a great deal of training and patience, she might amount to something."

"Then go with you she will to the Teth system."

"Teth? That's Wild Space. The droid army isn't even in that sector."

"Kidnapped Jabba the Hutt's son has been."

"You want me to rescue Jabba's son?"

"Anakin, we'll need the Hutts' allegiance to give us an advantage over Dooku."

"Mmmm." Yoda hummed again. "Negotiate the treaty with Jabba, Obi-Wan will. Find the renegades that hold Jabba's son your mission will be, Skywalker."

"Come on, Master." I said. "It doesn't sound that hard." I turned and headed back to the ship with Anakin behind me.

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"All right, Anakin, here's the story." Obi-Wan's hologram stood in front of Anakin and me as the ship swerved through the air towards the monastary where we believed that Jabba's son was being held. "Jabba has given us only one plantetary rotation to get his son back home to Tatooine safe and sound."

"Won't take us that long, Master." Anakin assured him.

"Well, take extreme care. We have no idea who's holding Jabba's son. When Ahsoka and I finish negotiations with him, we will join you."

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I was almost jumping with joy. My second battle as a Padawan. I hung onto the handle above my head to hold me steady as the ship shook with turbulence. I looked up and over at Anakin to see him watching me closely.

"Stay close to me, if you can." Anakin challenged me with a smirk, his eyes glowing as bright as the sky on a cloud-free day.

"It won't be a problem, Master." I assured him, returning the smirk.

"This isn't practice, Aroara." I rolled my eyes and sighed before returning my gaze with him.

"I know. And I'll try not to get you killed." He smiled, his eyes growing brighter, making me fall in love with them even more. An explosion sounded beside us, causing the ship to shake violently, wiping the smile off of Anakin's face.

"Sir, we're taking heavy fire." The pilot called back to us.

"Close the blast shields, Lieutinant." Anakin ordered. "Get us under those guns."

"Yes, sir!" The outside cover closed over the windows, cloaking us with darkness until a red light flooded the ship.

"Here we go." I muttered as the troopers around me checked their weapons and got into attack position. I looked back over to Anakin. His eyes searched my face as he gave me a short nod of comfort. The ship gave a heavy thud as it landed on the ground. The red light switched to green and the back hatch opened, flooding the back with light. I looked down at the ground to look away from the blinding light but when I looked back up, I saw droids firing down from the mountain at us. I saw the troopers left the ship and Anakin was already up the hill to the mountain with the monastary on top. I growled in frustration and leapt out of the ship, dodging the laser fire as I raced after Anakin, trying to keep up with his long strides. I followed him up to the mountain and pressed my back up against the stone beside him and the clones to hide us from the droids shooting down at us. "So this is where the fun begins."

"Race you to the top." Anakin challenged me, amusement playing in his eyes. I laughed at my master.

"I'll give you a head start." The amusement grew bigger.

"Your mistake." He turned to the mountain and gave a massive leap, making it about twenty feet into the air before grabbing onto a vine on the mountain with his left hand, his lightsaber in his right.

"I'm right behind you, Master." I grabbed onto a vine and pulled myself up before jumping into the air and grabbing onto a ledge that was carved into the mountain. I pulled myself up and took out my lightsaber, activating it so it was humming in my hands. I looked up at the droids above us and twisted the lightsaber in my hands to block each shot that was fired at me. The lasers richocheted off my lightsaber and shot back at the droids, knocking them from the edge of the mountain. I saw another ledge within my jumping range and if I made it to it, it would put right underneath Anakin, giving me a chance to actually beat him to the top. I diactivated my lightsaber but kept it in my left hand as I grunted as I made the leap to the ledge. Before I could land safely on it, shots were fired at me, causing me to lose my concentration and I fell short on my jump. My lightsaber fell from my hands and landed on the ledge but my fingertips barely grabbed the edge. Grunting, I tried to pull myself up using my feet to push off from the stone below me but I kept slipping. Something hummed behind me and I risked a look over my shoulder to see four battle droids flying in my direction, shooting at me. Looking back ahead, I saw Anakin sliding down the mountain to me and instead of helping me, he kicked off from the ledge and jumped on to the nearest flying droid, slicing it in half before leaping from the next one and doing the same thing. When he ot to the fourth flyer, he killed it and kicked it off the flyer and he took control of it. He flew past me and back up the mountain. I snarled, grinding my teeth together and I used my anger to pull me onto the ledge. Forgetting about fighting off the droids, I dodged the fires as I jumped to the next ledge. As I was jumping, I saw Anakin disappearing to the top of the mountain and seconds later, droids were screaming as they fell from the edge of the mountain. I leapt from ledge to ledge until I was just below the top and I jumped onto the tank beside me, letting it pull me the rest of the way up the mountain. Once I was on top, I saw Anakin standing in the middle of the courtyard of the monastary with his back to me and three energy shielded droids in front of him.

"Blast it, Aroara." I heard him mutter under his breath. "I told you to stay close to me." The tank fired, the missle landing just in front of the droids, blowing them all up. Anakin turned in shock and I crossed my arms and smiled at him.

"I can't get much closer, Skyguy."

"I knew you'd get here, Snips, eventually."

"Always in time to save your life." I jumped off the tank and ran over to his side and he beamed down at me.

"All clear, General." Rex informed Anakin as he and the rest of the troopers joined us in the courtyard.

"Nice work, Rex." Anakin praised him. "Have some men look after the wounded."

"Roger that, sir. Gunships are holding at a safe distance."

"Too many droids here for them to be renegades. I sense Count Dooku's hand in this. Let's find Jabba's son and get out."

"No problem." I gloated. "The hard part's over."

"I wish you wouldn't say that." Anakin pushed past me and headed to the entrance of the monastary and I followed after him with the clones behind me. We walked into the temple and I felt a chill go up my spine as I felt the darkness surround me.

"I don't like this place." Rex said. "It gives me the creeps." I looked around around the ancient markings on the walls and the structure of the pillars and beams.

"This looks like one of those B'omar monk monasteries that I read about in my studies at the temple."

"Smugglers take these monsateries over, turn them into their own personal retreats." Anakin explained.

"And the monks just let them?"

"Smugglers usually get what they want, one way or another." Clattering sounded in front of us and Anakin immediately pulled his lightsaber from his belt and activated but I stood down, not knowing whether to follow my master's lead or just see what made the noise. A metal droid came walking into the light.

"Uh, good guy or bad guy, Master?"

"Who are you?"

"Merely the humble caretaker, oh mighty sir." The droid answered quietly, stopping just at the end of Anakin's lightsaber. "You have liberated me from those dreadful battle bots. I am most thankful." Anakin reluctantly hooked his lightsaber back to his belt.

"Where is the Hutt?"

"The battle bots kept their prisoners on the detention level. I must warn you, it is very dangerous down there, my friend. Not a place for a servant girl." My eyes grew wide in shock at the term but a growl rumbled in my chest but turned into a snarl as it left my mouth. I bared my teeth at him as the anger boiled inside.

"Do servant girls carry these?" I questioned him as I pulled out my lightsaber and activated it, twirling it in my hand before holding the tip of it under the droid's chin. He held his arms up in surrender. "Call me a servant girl again and I'll turn you into scrape metal."

"Aroara!" Anakin snapped at me and I immediately turned my lightsaber off and hooked it back to my belt, hanging my head with ashame. "You need to control that temper of yours, Aroara." I looked in Anakin's direction but didn't dare to meet his gaze as I walked past the droid.

"A thousand apologies, young one." The droid apologize.

"Captain, we'll get the Hutt. Stay here. Keep your eyes open."

"Copy that, sir." Rex agreed and Anakin joined my side as we walked further into the temple.

"Aroara, you have got to keep that temper in line. It is not the Jedi way to use anger to solve every problem. Do you understand, my young Padawan?"

"Yes, Master." I muttered my answer.

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I followed slowly behind Anakin as we walked through the heavy aired dark hallway on the lower level. Biting my lower lip, I looked around and felt the air get heavier around us as we passed tiny dark shadowed corridors with eyes watching us as we past them. Three droids in that corridor... two droids in that corridor. It was like they weren't even trying to hide from us. I looked forward again to focus my eyes on Anakin's back. Why wasn't he doing anything? If I could sense the droids watching us, then he must sense it too? Then why wasn't he fighting them.

"Master, you know you're walking us into a trap?" I inquired softly as I looked to the corridor to the right to see two more droids pressed up against the wall, trying not to be seen.

"I know." Anakin answered nonchalantly. Two more droids stared at us through the darkness as we continued down the hallway.

"We just passed two more droids."

"I know."

"Well, I don't like this. Can I take care of them?"

"Oh, well, if you feel so strongly about it, go ahead." My hand gripped my lightsaber as I looked over my shoulder to see the droids coming out of the corridors and lining up behind me. Twirling the lightsaber around hand, I activated it and whipped around cutting through the closest droid's gun before cutting off his head. The droid behind it shot at me and I blocked it with my lightsaber, making the bullet ricochet back, shooting the droid. I sliced through the other droids with ease and diactivated my lightsaber, hooking it back to my belt, once all the droids were dead on the ground. I turned back to see Anakin standing there, watching me with his arms crossed over his chest and eyes glowing with amusement. "Not bad. You remembered to destroy their weapons first."

"I'm improving your technique." Anakin snatched his lightsaber and stabbed a lone droid that was hiding in the corridor behind him. He put his lightsaber away and smirked at me before walking away.

"Of course, you did miss one." I looked in disappointment at the droid and bit my lip.

"I. . . did that on purpose." I followed after him and we stopped in front of a closed metal door.

"I sense our kidnapped Hutt is in here." My face cringed up with disgust as a foul scent leaked through the door to my sensitive nose.

"Ew. I smell him, too." Anakin held his hand up towards the door and called upon the force to will the door open. The door slid up into the ceiling and a screeching noise sounded from the dark room. A small larva green looking creature crawled towards us with arms stretched towards us and orange eyes bright.

"He's a lot younger than I thought he'd be."

"He's just a baby. This will make our job a lot easier. Do you think it'll understand me if I called it ugly?"

"You think he's ugly now? Just wait until you see what he'll grow into."


	3. Chapter 3

I sat on the cold concrete ground of the corridor with the whining, playful hutt in front of me as Anakin stood in the entrance finishing his conversation with Rex. I grimaced in disgust as it touched my knee with its slimy hand, smiling up at me.

"Master, my Jedi training didn't prepare me for this." I informed him as I slowly and gingerly picked the small hand up with my thumb and finger only to move it off my knee. "What are we gonna do?"

"Well, since you want to complain that it's ugly, you're gonna carry it." Anakin smirked at me before walking back down the hallway.

"But, Master!" I looked back down at the hutt and groaned as he fussed and cried, holding its arms out to me. I sighed and stood up before bending down and picking up the small hutt and followed Anakin down the hallway.

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"How do you like your little buddy?" Anakin teased me as we made our way out of the temple to the courtyard. I growled as I bared my teeth at my master.

"You know, he's reminding me of you more and more." I snapped at him and I held the hutt up towards him. "See? You're two of a kind."

"Maybe you should carry both of us then." Anakin laughed before walking away again. I snarled as I turned the hutt back around and looked down at it. It began to cry and started coughing violently. I placed my hand against its forehead and immediately pulled it away when I felt how hot it was.

"Master, I think this little guy is sick. He's burning up with a fever." Anakin halted and turned back around to walk back towards me. He placed his hand at the hutt's forehead and nodded in agreement.

"You're right. We've got to get him back to the ship immediately. Trooper, get me a backpack." A clone trooper handed Anakin a backpack and I knelt to the ground and Anakin took the hutt away from me and began to place the hutt in the bag but was struggling by how fat the hutt was.

"Would you just let me do it?"

"I hate hutts."

"Thank you for finally agreeing with me." I swatted Anakin's hands away and gently put the hutt in the bag with more ease than Anakin. "See? Sometimes it just needs a woman's touch." Anakin glared at me before we both stood up and he help me put the backpack on my back.

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I stood to the left of Anakin to the side of his starfighter as R2 projected a hologram of Obi-Wan in front of us.

"Anakin, did you locate Jabba's son?" Obi-Wan asked.

"We have him." Anakin answered. "But it looks like the Separatists are behind his abduction. This smells like Count Dooku to me."

"I think it's little Stinky you smell." I muttered, wrinkling my nose at the stench. Anakin turned to glare at me before turning back to Obi-Wan.

"I'll bet Dooku is using us to get Jabba to join the Separatists." Obi-Wan suggested.

"Master Kenobi, we have another problem. This Huttlet is very sick."

"I'm not sure we can get him back to Tatooine alive, Master." Anakin said. "This whole rescue may backfire on us. I still don't think dealing with the Hutts is a good idea."

"Anakin, you know they control shipping routes in the Outer Rim." Obi-Wan reminded him. "Jabba's cooperation is crucial to the war effort. If you let anything happen to his son, our chances of a treaty with him will disappear." Something whirred in the air above us and I looked up to see vulture droids coming out of larger ships and heading in our direction.

"Master, we've got trouble." I warned Anakin.

"Defensive positions!" Rex yelled at the clones and everyone got their weapons ready, firing at the ships.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan questioned him.

"I'll have to call you back, Master." Anakin said. "We're under attack. We could use a little help here if you have the time."

"I'll get there soon as I can. Protect the Hutt, Anakin." Lasers fired at us as the hologram disappeared. With the swift movement of his wrist, Anakin grabbed his lightsaber from his belt and stood in front of me to block the fires with his lightsaber.

"Get inside." I turned and ran as fast as I could on my short legs back into the temple. Anakin followed closely behind me with the clones behind him, closing the large metal door behind us and shielding us from the droids. "Captain, we'll stay here until General Kenobi arrives with reinforcements." I stared at him like he was stupid, my sapphire blue eyes hardening to ice as I tried to understand what he was thinking. "What?"

"Master, do you honestly think we can hold them off?" I asked. "We've got to find a way out of here."

"Our mandate is to protect this Hutt and that's what we're going to do, Aroara." I grinded my teeth and growled as I tried to reason with him.

"Our mandate was to get this Hutt back to Tatooine, and time is running out."

"I suppose you have a plan." R2 chittered behind me and I looked at him before looking back at Anakin.

"Yes." I paused and began to doubt myself. "Or I think so. R2 willing."

"All right, Snips, I'll trust you on this one. Captain, hold them here as long as you can." I turned and walked back into the temple with Anakin and R2 behind me.

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I lead Anakin and R2 to the second floor of the temple and R2 whirred in front of us and went straight over to the nearest navigation system and locked into it.

"If there's a way out of here, R2 will find it." I explained.

"Make it quick." Anakin ordered and R2 beeped in reply. "Finally asleep, huh?" I looked over my shoulder and into the bookbag to see the huttlet sleeping. "Put him down. Get some rest yourself. It's been a long day for you, little one." I growled at the sound of _little one _as Anakin sat down on the bench in front of me.

"I can hold him, Master. I'm not tired."

"Okay, suit yourself. I don't see why you won't just listen to me."

"I do listen to you, Master. I just don't like being treated like a youngling."

"You must have patience. What are you trying to prove anyway?"

"There has never been a Jedi that was a Caninis. There hasn't been one because of their anger issues. I'm the first one. And add that to being as young as I am, I'm not a suitable Padawan. I'm not too young to be your Padawan."

"Aroara," Anakin stood up and stood in front of me and gingerly placed his hand on my left shoulder. "A very wise Jedi once said, nothing happens by accident. It's the will of the Force that you're at my side. Just wanna keep you there in one piece." I sighed and took the backpack off and set it gently on the ground before laying down on the bench.


	4. Chapter 4

After a few minutes of resting, R2 discovered a back landing platform and we were now making our way to it as fast as we could with the Hutt on Anakin's back. As we walked out onto the platform that hung out over a cliff and looked straight down into nothing but dark mist, Anakin called into his comlink to Obi-Wan.

"Skywalker to Obi-Wan." Anakin said. "Mark my position. We need a medical ship immediately. Do you copy?"

"Anakin, do you read me?" Obi-Wan returned the call. "Anak. . ." Obi-Wan's voice cut off as the signal started to get jammed up.

"I can't get a hold of Obi-Wan. I'll see if I can find Captain Rex. Captain Rex, respond."

"I read you, General." Rex finally answered after a moment or two of silence. "We're pinned down in the courtyard."

"Do you need help?" No answer. "I'll take that as a yes, Captain. Stand by, we're on our way. Skywalker out." Anakin turned and started to head back into the temple.

"Master," I called out to him. "Stinky is really sick. He's turning every shade of green, except the one he's supposed to be. Our mission was to get him back to Tatooine, alive." Anakin stopped to pivot back around to face me.

"Obi-Wan will get here eventually. Right now, we need Rex to help us find the ship." R2 chittered and I looked past Anakin to see energy shielded droids rolling towards before stopping and raising their guns at us.

"Great. Rolling death balls." They started to fire and Anakin and I pulled out our lightsabers to block the shots.

"R2, door!" R2 rolled away to the control panel on the wall and hacked into it. A bald woman with a sinister smile walked between the two droids and smirked at us just as R2 closed the door. A humming of a lightsaber sounded on the other side of the door and two red lightsabers stabbed through the steel and began to cut a circle out of it. "I think now's a good time for a retreat." I looked at him in shock.

"Retreat? That's a new word for you."

"Maybe into the jungle."

"Uh, in case you haven't notice, Master, we're pretty high up on the mountain."

"I've noticed, Aroara, thank you for pointing that out." Something shot at us below and the platform rumbled before a high shrieking noise filled the air as dozens of large flying insects flew from out under the platform and into the sky. "Well, so much for going that way." We turned back around to see the lightsabers half way done of making the hole. "Looks like we're out of options." The Hutt started cooing in the backpack as he waved his arms around in excitment.

"No, not now, Stinky." He continued to coo as he looked off into the distance. I turned around to see what he was staring at and gasped when I saw another mountain with a ship on a platform. "Master, another landing platform!"

"With a ship on it."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"That's General to you, Snips."

"So how are we gonna get over there?" Anakin looked down at me and smirked.

"Leave that to me." Anakin jumped off the platform with the hutt screaming on his back and landed on one of the insects. I looked down at them in shock as I watched the insect buck, trying to get them off.

"I so hope I don't have to learn that." A clanking noise sounded behind me and I turned to see female Jedi climb through the hole. She charged at me and I twisted my wrist in one swift movement to bring my lightsaber up to block her two lightsabers. The lightsabers crackled against each other as I stared into her cold, empty pale blue eyes, trying to push her away from me. My muscles ached as she fought harder pushing me back toward the edge of the platform. I growled and took my lightsaber away and ducked under her swinging arm. I stood back up but she backhanded me causing me to fall back and roll against the ground. She stood over top of me, holding her lightsabers in a threatening manner.

"Where is Skywalker?" She demanded.

"Sorry, Lady, I ain't that stupid to tell you."

"I'm right here, Ventress." I looked behind me to see Anakin on the insect, hovering in the air. "Hi-ya!" The insect turned around and whacked Ventress with its tail, sending her back across the platform."

"Time to go." I stood up as Anakin turned the bug around and started to fly towards me.

"Hop on, Snips."

"Like I have a choice!" I held my hand up and he snatched it in his hand, dragging me off the platform and dangled me in the air. R2 followed closely behind us on his jets as Anakin swung me up onto the bug behind him.

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As the bug flew over the landing platform, Anakin and I slid off the bug's back and jumped down to the platform, landing on the balls of our feet. We looked to the the ship in front of us and stared at in digust as we saw the rusted metal on it.

"We're taking this junker?" I questioned Anakin. "We'd be better off on that big bug."

"Get aboard and prime the engines." Anakin ordered. "Assuming it has engines." I sighed and walked towards the open door to the ship. As I got closer, a waddling droid appeared from behind some crates with it's back to me. I immediately recognized it as the droid from when we first entered the temple.

"Hey! You're that caretaker droid. I wondered what happened to you." The droid turned around to face me.

"Oh, uh, young one. I. . . had to get away from that terrible. . ." Something caught my eye and I looked away from the droid to see a battle droid walking down the ramp to the ship.

"Okay, everything's loaded." The battle droid said. "Let's get out of. . . here." Two more droids appeared behind him as they noticed me. I grinded my teeth and snarled, canines poking down from my upper lip.

"Why, you tin-plated traitor." I snapped.

"Blast her!" The caretaker ordered and the battle droids began to fire at me. I pulled out my lightsaber and twirled it in my hands as I blocked the shots. The shots ricocheted back, killing the droids and I ran forward to hold my lightsaber in front of the caretaker droid's face as he gasped in shock. "Don't you dare." I scoffed and flicked my wrist, slicing my lightsaber through the droids neck. Anakin appeared behind me.

"Nice to know that you had my back."

"I knew you could handle it, Snips." I rolled my eyes and lead the way onto the ship.

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I sat down in the co-pilot's seat with Stinky in my lap as Anakin sat in the pilot's seat.

"Now, let's get Stinky out of here." Anakin muttered as he pressed the control button for the engines. Instead of purring to life, the engines gave a whirring sound and died. "Uh. . . if we can." He tried it again and got the same results. He tried it over and over again but nothing came out of it. The huttlet began to cry and I snapped my jaw tight, my canine teeth clicking together as I growled in frustration. My hands clenched into fists as the ship rattled around us as my anger connected with the Force. "Relax, Snips. You need to stay calm. R2, see if you can spark the ignition couplers." Beeping, R2 rolled to the control panel on the wall and hacked into it. The engines whirred and died and R2 turned beeped and clicked at us. "No, that's not it. Try opening the fuel lifters all the way." Beeping and whirring, R2 followed his orders. The engines groaned and whirred to life, staying on as the lights switched on in the cockpit. "Good work, buddy. Anakin flew the aircraft off the platform and headed back to the temple.

"Master Kenobi and Ahsoka are here." I exclaimed as I recognized their starfighters as Stinky babbled in my lap. "Now we'll see some real fireworks.

"Excuse me? What do you call what I've been doing all day?"

"I don't know." I rolled my eyes and looked at him as his eyes turned to ice as he glared at me. "The word reckless comes to mind."

"Very funny, Snips. Back to work. The troops still need our help. Charge the main guns." I stared at him in shock.

"How are we going to help, Master? Stinky's getting worse."

"We promised Rex we'd help him."

"_You _promised Rex you'd help him. I've been telling you that we need to complete the mission. We've got to get him to the medics on the Jedi cruiser. It's our only chance to get Stinky back to this father still breathing." Anakin hold my gaze as Stinky whimpered in my lap. Anakin sighed and turned on his comlink.

"Captain Rex? General Skywalker."

"Yes, General?" Rex answered as Anakin closed his blue eyes as he reviewed his decision in his head.

"We're not going to be able to help you."

"Don't worry about us, General. We'll be all right. The mission always comes first, Sir." Anakin gave a heavy sigh as we flew straight over the battlefield in the courtyard of the temple.

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As we made our way away from the temple, I looked over at Anakin to see his eyes narrowed as he focused his full concentration on the path in front of him. I looked ahead and sighed as I slouched in my seat.

"Master, I did do my best to try to stay calm but I just got so frustrated and angry and everything became more harder for me even though I felt more connected with the Force." I said quietly. As I finished speaking, an explosion shook our ship and Stinky whimpered in my lap.

"Well, you better get focused and stay calm, Snips, cause things just got a lot harder." Anakin said as we broke through the clouds to see the Jedi medic crusier under attack. As we continued our path to the cruiser, Anakin slammed the steering wheel to the right to flip the ship over as two gunships chased after enemy droids. We past over them safely and continued our way. "All we've got to do is land on that Jedi cruiser."

"But, Master, their deflector shields are up." The Jedi cruiser pointed their guns at us and fired at us, shaking the whole ship. "They must think this grease bucket is an enemy ship."

"Jedi cruiser, hold your fire."

"Who is that?" A clone sounded over the radio. "Incoming ship, identify yourself. Repeat, identify yourself."

"This is General Skywalker. We have Jabba the Hutt's son. He needs medical attention. We must board immediately."

"Stand by."

"Stand by?" I repeated. "Stand by?! How is that going to help us?!"

"Aroara!" Anakin snapped at me and I looked away from his piercing gaze.

"General Skywalker, think we can lift the doors on the lower rear hanger." The clone said.

"We're on our way." Anakin made a sharp right around the cruiser and dove under the ship to head to the back. Just as we were about to land in the hangar, three droids flew straight into it, shooting up the place and causing an explosion to destroy the entire hangar. Anakin pulled up on the ship to escape the flames that came out. "That changes our plans."

"Yeah, no kidding." I agreed.

"Looks like we're going to have to take this bucket of bolts all the way to Tatooine."

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I looked down at the huttlet as I watched it fall asleep as the medicine kick in.

"The medicine, it's working." I declared. "His fever broke. I think he's gonna live to stink another day." I turned around to see Anakin standing on the pilot seat and messing with the wiring in the ceiling.

"Great." Anakin said. "Keeping him alive wasn't as easy as you'd hoped, was it?"

"Master, if you've taught me one thing, it's that nothing is easy when you're around. You think Rex and Master Obi-Wan made it out okay?"

"If I know my old master, he has things well in hand. Now help me with this. I want the primary systems fully repaired by the time we reach Tatooine." I bent down beside R2 and rumaged through our tools before picked up a hammer and handed it to Anakin.

"You grew up on Tatooine, right? So for you, this trip is like going home."

"Yeah. Home."

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"I was hoping I'd never have to lay eyes on this dust ball again." Anakin growled under his breath as he finished up on the wiring in the ship. I looked up at him in concern as I sat down in the co-pilot's seat.

"Okay." I said slowly. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it. How's Stinky holding up?" I looked over my shoulder at the sleeping Hutt as Anakin sat back down in his seat.

"He seems to be feeling better. His fever is gone. I have to admit though, he's kind of cute when he's asleep. Don't you agree, Master?"

"I admit I like him better when he's quiet. But only a little." R2 whistled and beeped beside us and Anakin shook his head at him. "No, R2, I want the cannon operational first. Leave the rear deflector shields for later." R2 beeped again and turned to follow Anakin's orders.

"No rear shields, Master? That's awful risky."

"A strong attack eliminates the need for defense, Snips." The computer trilled in front of us and we looked to see two attack ships heading our way.

"Attack ships closing."

"Somebody doesn't want Stinky to get home in one piece." A loud banging sounded as the whole ship shook as the attack ships fired at us.

"Wow, quite a welcome home party."

"Set the approach vector and make ready to land. Aroara, activate the guns." I leaned over to press the buttons for the guns but they wouldn't budge.

"All the guns are locked in the forward position. It's too bad you decided not to repair the rear deflector shields."

"Not now, Aroara. R2, see if you can unlock those guns."

"Sometimes a good defense is the best offense."

"Why don't you go secure your little Huttlet friend?"

"None of us are secure with your flying." I growled as I stood up and walked to the other side of the ship to the sleeping Hutt.

"Hang on back there." The ship took a sharp turn up before making a sharp nose dive, making me fall on my butt and the hutt landing in my lap. Stinky's eyes snapped open and he opened his mouth to let out a loud screeching sound as he began to cry. I looked over my shoulder and growled in frustration at my master.

"Great. You woke the baby."

"I'm a little busy here. Got one of them."

"What about the other one?"

"One thing at a time, Aroara." The ship gave a lurch and shook violently as our bottom wing was shot off. "I think we need those rear shields after all."

"I told you so. . ." Anakin turned the ship sideways on to its right side, making me slide across the floor and R2 falling onto my back. "You know, I wonder if Ahsoka is having this much fun with Master Kenobi."

"R2, turns those guns around." I snarled and clenched my teeth together as I tightened my grip around Stinky and dug my heels into the floor of the ship, using my back to try to push R2 back to the computer. "R2!"

"He's a little busy at the moment!" I gave another push my heels and shoved R2 towards the computer. "Why can't you be a tiny little mouse droid?" Anakin made a sharp turn to the left, knocking R2 the rest of the way to the computer. He hacked into the computer and turned the guns around and starting shooting at the enemy.

"Get 'em, R2." R2 beeped his success and I stood up and sigh. "Good shot, buddy. You've been holding out on me. Aroara, strap in." I made up my way to my seat and sat down and looked over at Anakin who was staring with concern out the window.

"You're got that _we're in trouble _look."

"There's a look?"

"Of course there's a look. You can't miss it."

"Very funny, Snips. Obi-Wan, come in. Do you copy?"

"Kenobi here." Obi-Wan answered over the computer as a loud bang erupted throughout the ship. "Have you reached Tatooine?"

"Almost. But we ran into. . ."

"Anakin, did you get shot down again?" Anakin didn't answer so I decided to.

"Yes." I called over to him.

"This ship is too slow." Anakin defended himself. "I haven't had time to modify it yet."

"I'm still cleaning up your other mess." Obi-Wan said. "But I'll get there."

"So much for reinforcements." The ship got pulled into the gravitional pull of the planet and the ship erupted into flames as we dove faster to the planet. "Hang on! This landing could get a little rough."

"Crashes are rough." I snapped at him. "Landings are not."

"Then it's a crash landing." We broke through the clouds and I could make out the sand. The ship shook violently as we crashed into the sand.


	5. Chapter 5

I sighed with exhuastion as I tried to keep up with Anakin who was several paces in front of me with Stinky on his back. My feet dragged through the sand as the sun beat down onto my back. I shook my head to clear it. I wasn't used to the heat. It wasn't like my home planet. Back there, everything was so cool and dry. I looked up from my feet and stared at Anakin's back.

"Master Yoda has a saying: Old sins cast long shadows." I recited. "Do you. . . know what he means by that?"

"He means your past can ruin your future if you allow it to." Anakin explained over his shoulder. "But you forget, it was Master Skywalker who said: I don't want to talk about my past."

"Okay, fine. There is so much more we can talk about out here. Like. . . the sand. It suits the planet very well."

"The desert is merciless. It takes everything from you."

"That's comforting. It won't take us, Master. Right, Artooey?" R2 chriped and warbled as he continued to follow us.

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The sun began to set casting a long shadow over the sand dunes and clouding Anakin and me with darkness. An eerie feeling went up my spine and my stomach turned with anxiety. I stopped walking and Anakin stopped in front of me.

"We're not alone." I muttered, looking from left to right to see if anyone or anything was watching us.

"I sense it, too." Anakin said. "It's the dark side of the Force." The young huttlet let out a frighten chitter before pulling the cover over his head. "Whatever it it, it's coming for the Hutt. Time to split up." Anakin turned around to face me and I looked up at him in confusion.

"We'll face it together, Master." Anakin laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Not this time, Snips. I have a far more important mission for you."

"More important than keeping you alive?"

"Aroara, I need you to trust me on this one." I sighed and hung my head as I listened to my master's instructions.

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The air was cooler now that the sun had set. I had begun to walk faster now that I could see Jabba's palace on the horizon. Jabba's son was securly wrapped to my back with R2 rolled behind me. It felt even more lonely out here now that Anakin wasn't with me. As I began to walk up the pathway to the palace, I stopped abrutly as I began to feel uneasy. The Force was trying to tell me that danger was nearby. I pulled out my lightsaber and powered it up as the ground begun to shake and three large droids came up out of the ground. Each of them had a long electrical staff. I intercepted a staff with my lightsaber and jumped back to dodged another one coming at me but instead of landing on solid ground, I was falling through open air. I turned myself around in midair and fell straight on my stomach. The huttlet begin to whimper on my back and I groaned as I tried to pick myself up, gasping for air.

"I thought you liked to play in the sand." I muttered. I scrambled to my feet and hid behind a rock as I heard the three droids sliding down the hill to me. I listened closely to the sound of the metal feet and when they were close to my hiding spot, I jumped out and slammed my lightsaber down on one of the droids head, cutting him in half. I turned to face the other two as they surrounded me. I heard a humming of an engine above me and saw Anakin on a cruiser heading straight for Jabba's palace. "Master!" I jumped back and blocked a staff with my lightsaber before looking back up to the cliff edge to see Anakin continuing his way to the palace. Fear swept over me as I got worried that I wasn't going to make it out of this alive. I did a backflip, kicking a droid back and once I was on my feet again, I grabbed the other droid's staff and slammed it into his chest before cutting off his head and slicing him in half with my lightsaber. As I turned quickly around, I cut the last droid in half. Exhuastion quickly overwhelmed me and I dropped to my knees feeling like I couldn't take any more. "Being a Padawan is harder than I thought." It was the chortling of the huttlet that brought me back to my senses, reminding me of the mission that I still have yet to finish. "Let's get you home." I got to my feet and began to climb the sand dune.

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I made it up the walkway to the palace where I could hear the yelling of Huttese from inside. Anakin's voice followed closely after. I rushed inside and stood in the main room of the palace where a bunch of pirates had Anakin surround and guns pointed at him while Anakin had his lightsaber pointed to Jabba. He was ugly. He looked like a fat, green slug.

"Stop!" My voice echoed off the walls as the attention from everyone in the room turned to me. R2 chirped behind me. Jabba spoke Huttese as Anakin powered down his lightsaber and took a step back so I could give Jabba his son back. Jabba took his son from me and I stepped back in line next to Anakin's side. Jabba pointed his finger to us and spoke again.

"You are to be executed, immediately." Jabba's droid translated.

"What?!" Anakin and I both exclaimed in shock. Guns were once again pointed at us and I put my back up against Anakin's back as we both pulled out our lightsabers, ready to defend ourselves.

"Does this always happen to you?" I questioned my master.

"Everywhere I go." Anakin answered. Both the shooting could start, a globe in the corner by Jabba glowed.

"Your Uncle Ziro is contacting us." The droid said. The droid answered it and a holograph of a young woman appeared in front of Jabba.

"Greetings, Honorable Jabba." The woman said. "I am Senator Amidala of the Galactic Congress. I've discovered a plot against you by one of your own. Your uncle will admit he conspired with Count Dooku to kidnap your son and frame the Jedi for the crime." The holograph of Senator Amidala disappeared and a new one appeared of a larger and more uglier Hutt.

"Ziro!" Jabba spoke harshly before continuing his rant in Huttese. Ziro and Jabba talked for a moment in Huttese.

"It was Count Dooku!" Ziro said and Jabba growled at him as the holograph of Senator Amidala returned in front of Jabba.

"Ziro will be dealt with by the Hutt family, most severly." The droid translated to the senator.

"Perhaps now, you will allow the Republic to use your trade routes and hostilities can come to an end." Senator Amidala said. Jabba laughed before replying.

"Jabba agrees. A treaty is in order."

"You will not regret this, Jabba." Anakin and I powered down our lightsabers and turned to face Jabba.

"The clone armies may move through Jabba's territories."

"Senator," Anakin called to her and she turned around to face him. "You have my undying. . . gratitude.

"No, Master Skywalker, it is I and the Republic who owes you thanks." Senator Amidala corrected him before the holograph transmission ended.

"Jabba would be most appreciative if you bring Dooku to justice for his crimes against the Hutts." The droid said.

"You can count on it, Jabba." Anakin answered before he escorted me out of the palace. As I walked out of the palace with Anakin on my left, I begin to think. I may have started to think that being a Padawan, especially the Padawan of one of the greatest Jedi Knights in the galaxy, was going to be fun but after this mission, I realized that it's going to be harder than I thought. I started my Padawan training with strength and determination and I going to finish my training the same way. I am determined to become a Jedi Knight.


End file.
